Venice has been in a state of perpetual renaissance since tobacco heir Abbot Kinney founded the seaside resort town in 1905. And yet traces of its past stubbornly persist in street names, artworks and the built environment.

Deep in the Amazon, George is determined to retrace Theodore Roosevelt’s legendary expedition and witness first-hand how deforestation and climate change are affecting one of the earth’s most critical ecosystems.

Across the world, Indigenous peoples have lived in their ancestral homelands for thousands of years. To have their perspective and their traditional knowledge is key when confronting contemporary environmental challenges.

This episode journeys to the Smith River near the Oregon border to discover how the Tolowa Dee-ni’ are reviving traditional harvesting of shellfish while working with state agencies to monitor toxicity levels.

A Pepperdine University student was among those still missing today following an overnight shooting massacre at a Thousand Oaks nightclub crowded with patrons, including 16 students from the Malibu college and three off-duty Los Angeles Police Department.

"Tending Nature" shines a light on the environmental knowledge of indigenous peoples across California by exploring how the state's Native peoples have actively shaped and tended the land for millennia.

This season features six half-hour episodes showcasing a collection of short films from schools across Southern California, including, winners in the categories of Documentary, Narrative and Animation.

A Guide to Current:LA Water, the Biennial Bringing Art to 16 Locations Across the City | KCET

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A Guide to Current:LA Water, the Biennial Bringing Art to 16 Locations Across the City

Carren is the Arts & Culture editor for KCET. She is also an art, architecture and design writer. Her work has been spotted on Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Atlantic's CityLab and others. You can find her online and on Twitter.

This summer, Los Angeles’ riverbanks and water-related sites will blossom to life despite the drought. Current:LA Water, a citywide public art biennial made by possible by a grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies Public Art Challenge, is seeking to uncover the complexities inherent in water (or the lack of them) on urban life. Out of 237 cities, Los Angeles was one of four selected for the coveted grant. Patricia Harris, CEO of Bloomberg Philanthropies says the grant not only aims to give cities an economic lift, but it envisions providing a “spiritual lift” as well.

Across 16 locations (15 designated sites plus a "hub") from Bee Canyon Park in Granada Hills to Point Fermin Park in Long Beach, site-specific artwork and public programming by international and Los Angeles-artists will provoke visitors to ponder the tangled web of connections water weaves in our city’s history. Initiated by the Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA), Current:LA also seeks to build connections between the sometimes-siloed communities of Los Angeles, as well as to nature in the urban setting. Felicia Filer, co-executive director of Current:LA said, “Unlike exhibits in a museum, these site-specific works across Los Angeles beckon city dwellers to slow down, have a seat, seek shade, walk the bike path, until there is nothing left to do, but be.”

Though it doesn’t flow, groundwater is very much a part of the city’s water system. Artist Peggy Weil and Refik Anadol finally let Angelenos see deep into the earth by projecting arresting images of porous rock capable of holding and transmitting water -- L.A.’s aquifers -- onto the concrete banks of the Los Angeles River.

The artist team worked with USGS geologists to obtain data and images of ground slices below an Angeleno’s feet up to 1,400 feet below the ground. The projection is a visual walk through time, says Weil. At 1,400 feet, the ground holds marks of events that can be traces as far back as 2.5 million years ago. The images are interspersed with data visualization that shows the rise and fall of water levels at different points in time. Its apices and nadirs are a reminder of Los Angeles' continual struggle for hydration.

Edgar Arceneaux, "The CENTER of the EARTH." | Photo: Courtesy of the artist.

At the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, Edgar Arceneaux spotted two sculptures, each purporting to mark the Center of the Earth. Struck by the conflict even of these ancient sites, Arceneaux turned his eye to a modern relic of water -- fountains -- and refashioned them into an altar of sorts by dressing two fountains with chrome-plated rose gold. The two opposing altars are set near two large boulders, giving them an air of gravitas. With his competing altars of water, the artist gives municipal water an air of the mythical and also invites viewers to ponder the governing bodies that dictate its use in public life.

Josh Callaghan and Daveed Kapoor, "Mast." | Photo: Panic Studio LA.

"Mast" by Josh Callaghan and Daveed Kapoor at South Los Angeles Wetlands Park, 5413 South Avalon Boulevard, South Los Angeles.

Referencing California’s colonial history, artists Josh Callaghan and Daveed Kapoor have created a sculpture that comprises a mast, sail and rigging. The duo used San Salvador -- the first European vessel to reach the West Coast -- as inspiration. The "Mast" doesn’t just function as an art piece, it is also meant to draw in the community by taking on public functions as a landmark space, offering spots to hang event posters -- and perhaps most importantly, offering shade.

Mel Chin, "Mirrorsite." | Photo: Amanda Wiles.

"The TIE that BINDS: the MIRROR of the FUTURE"by Mel Chin at The Bowtie, 2780 West Casitas Avenue, Glassell Park.

Right now, the Bowtie Parcel is in an in-between phase. Once a forgotten rail yard, the 18.6-acre parcel is the site of ongoing artistic interventions. In the future, it is set to become one of California’s verdant park areas, if funding can be secured. While money and plans are still being finalized, the land sandwiched by the 5 and 2 freeways, as well as the Los Angeles River, is overrun with invasive plants. Artist Mel Chin re-imagines the sprawling land populated with a new landscape of native drought-tolerant plants.

As a way for visitors to see the future ahead of time, Chin has designed eight model plots and duplicated this plant palette in eight private backyards. Angelenos are invited to envision this land in limbo garbed in its future glory. Chin is also providing residents with a chance to create these future landscapes in their own homes by making blueprints of his landscape design available to the public. Interested garden owners can work with the artist and a landscape designer to realize a section of Chin’s design for the Bowtie Parcel.

In homage to the roots of weather modification in the Western United States (this is where silver iodide was first suggested for cloud seeding), artist Chris Kallmyer is once again setting up the Los Angeles Department of Weather Modification. Kallmyer sets this new department in a 20-foot open-air geodesic dome, a structure that alludes to the West coast’s many utopian ideals. The dome will host a series of events featuring artists, designers, historians, urbanists, and chefs all investigating the intersection of water and weather modification.

By equating whiteness to beauty, porcelain has undercurrents of racism. Artist Candice Lin fashions this material into inverted busts of Europe’s great explorers including Christopher Columbus, Sir Francis Drake and Pedro Alvares Cabral. Lin further re-purposed these inverted busts as water filtration devices. As rain falls into Los Angeles, water flows through these busts, into terrariums, which activate the kombucha-making process that involves tea and sugar, two commodities of colonization. Lin’s "Hard White Body" weaves together the natural processes that involve water, as well as the region’s fraught history.

Water is a mercurial element. It slips and slides past, seeps into unknown places and appears where you least expect it. Performing arts duo Lucky Dragons references water’s strange attributes by instigating a series of performances at the park. Every weekday afternoon, performers will uncover a set of instructions on how to engage visitors at the park. These set of guidelines are not only meant to respond to L.A.’s water infrastructure, but also to surprise visitors out of their usual park-going experience.

Over the last year, there have been 975 murders in Los Angeles. A hundred of those murders were on public sites. Artist Teresa Margolles along with volunteers visited each of these sites, performed a cleansing ritual using water. This water was then remixed into the concrete that Margolles used to create a memorial for those victims of violence. The memorial also offers park goers a place to rest, meditate and reflect.

This summer, Angelenos will be greeted to the site of enormous fiberglass horses installed in a trench. An anti-monument, “Prime” reminds visitors of fountains bereft of water, as well as the West’s longstanding relationship with its equines.

Artist Michael Parker frames the Port of Los Angeles with a triumphal arch, a structure that has historically commemorated great military victories and other significant events. The arch frames the port’s parade of ships bearing towers of containers meant to fuel the country’s consumerist needs.

In every site, there are histories remembered and forgotten. Artist Gala Porras-Kim seeks to revive the hidden history of Ballona Discovery Park using the seemingly innocent park sign. Porras-Kim re-appropriated the look of the city’s current park signs and filled them with information on the parks’ controversial history. Almost 400 human remains of Gabrielino-Tongva tribe members were exhumed to make way for project.

Angelenos will be surprised to find a waterfall by the Los Angeles River’s path, but that’s exactly what’s in store for them at artist Tiravanija’s site. The artist has built an intimate timber-frame structure, which doubles as a public space where events around water are held. Expect a blessing ceremony by Thai monks, tea ceremonies and communal cooking to happen.

Not everyone can traverse all 51 miles of the Los Angeles River. Artist Kerry Tribe captures some of the scenery of each mile of the river into a serene 51-minute film that captures the varied landscapes, neighborhoods and people that can be found by the river. Its images present a whole picture of the river, which isn’t commonly seen by visiting just a few miles of the waterway.

Carren is the Arts & Culture editor for KCET. She is also an art, architecture and design writer. Her work has been spotted on Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Atlantic's CityLab and others. You can find her online and on Twitter.

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